Household numbers continue to rise

The number of households in Scotland has continued to increase to 2.46 million in 2017, according to figures published today by National Records of Scotland (NRS).

'Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2017' shows over the last ten years the number of households in Scotland has grown by around 145,000 (six per cent). 

Over a third of households are single person households, and just over 900,000 people are living alone (Scottish Household Survey 2016, figure below).

The growth in households is partly due to the rising population, but also because people are increasingly living alone, or with fewer other people. Households consisting of only one person have been the most common type in Scotland since 2010.

The number of households has increased in every council area over the last ten years, with the greatest relative increases occurring in Midlothian and the Orkney Islands.

According to the estimates published today, there were 2.60 million dwellings in Scotland in 2017. Three per cent (79,200 dwellings) were empty, and a further one per cent (25,700 dwellings) were second homes. Empty and second homes are concentrated in different parts of the country. For example, remote rural areas have a higher percentage of empty and second homes than urban areas.

The full publication Estimates of Households and Dwellings in Scotland, 2017 is available on this website.

An Infographic and Interactive Data Visualisation is also available for this publication on the NRS website.